This is the telephone pole flowerbed. I posted pictures awhile back
and just look at it now. The flowers on the right side of the pole(tall
ones), they are Maximilian sunflowers and won't bloom until mid to late
Sept.

This is one of my favorite canning books, it has recipes with all natural

ingredients, such as making jam and jelly with honey instead of sugar.

There is also a Stocking Up II and a volume III as well. If you might find

a volume 1 they are a great homestead tool!

Some more pints of pickled beets, a few fresh green peppers, banana

peppers, cucumbers and a small tomato( this mornings picks) The

1/2 bushel basket has new potatoes, dug last Friday.

A large enough harvest of beans( 1/2 bushel) to mess with canning.

They're coming on like gang busters, and soon enough I'll be sick of

dealing with them.

I just have to remind myself of all the lovely homegrown, home

preserved foods for a long winter and well into Spring 2010.

Cortney's cat, Callie taking a moment to pose for a quick picture, then

right back to mousing

I can't seem to get both these boys to look at the camera at the same

time, so this is the best of three I took. Casino(left) and Tuffy are not

loyal companions, they are our guard dogs( Casino is the mouth piece,

Tuffy the muscle*wink*) Tuffy is the working dog and he is fairly good

at herding the cows when we need him to, especially for no formal

training.

Mike's latest, "Honey Do!" He; with a bit of help now and again from

me, built this lean-to for storage of our firewood. YEAH! no more frozen

tarps for Cortney and I to fight all winter.

Okay, yes that is Kosha weed and yes it is tall, but it's left on purpose

for the Fall feeder pigs. Mike has to move one side of the pig pen in a

about a foot. To the left is their hut and when it's cold, it's stuffed full of

straw and you can't see a pig one, until they hear the slop bucket, LOL!

Click to enlarge. You'll be able to see all the beautiful colors in the front

wildflower bed and in the beds along the sidewalk. I think in the 6-1/2

yrs. we've lived here this is the best our yard and gardens have looked.

:o)

Those Zinnias were a gift from a friend in NE, Hi Dawn! Aren't they

lovely?

A close up of some of the front wildflowers. I think next year it will be

better, as they reseed themselves for next Spring.

Here's what it looks like and let me tell you it's better than mowing in the

slant. This used to be a irrigation ditch and it is dangerous to ride on

a mower along it, so we always ended up mowing it with the push

mower.

Concord grapes, although not as plentiful this year. This is why you

should take advantage of bumper crops when you have them. We have

plenty of canned juice in the pantry.

The garden looks good, don't look at the weeds please*wink*. I think

we'll put our mini hoophouse over the tomatoes again this year.

It just hasn't been hot enough and on Sat. our fore casted high is

supposed to be 65F. I have a weird feeling Autumn is here. This has

been the summer with no summer*sigh*

I can't believe how tall some of the hollyhocks have gotten, I guess the

rain has helped them.

Still working in the greenhouse, these are new starts of some of our

favorite herbs. These will hopefull sustain us through the winter.

pictured is Sweet Basil.

Majoram and lettuce leaf basil
Our greenhouse salad planters, going to seed. Speaking of seeds, I

you are remembering to collect seed.

The tomatoes are doing well, giving us a few ripe fruit every day or so.

It is my plan to see if we can overwinter these in the house.

Sorry for the absence, but as I always say,"Life happened" and it will

happen again*wink, especially with harvest and canning in full swing.

I've been trying to keep up on all your blogs, but those with lots of

picture on each page,I'm having trouble getting them to

load quick enough, so will catch up with you at a later point when

things slow a bit. I am reading as fast as I can, but don't always have

the time to comment.

Take care and I will be back in touch, I promise.

Blessings to each of you.